Construction of Handel Architects‘ mixed-use tower planned for the Lower East Side’s Essex Crossing development has officially begun. Located at 180 Broome Street, the tower sits at the Manhattan entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge, the structure which influenced the oversized concrete frames in the building’s design. The tower includes 263 apartments, retail at street level, office space on levels two through five and a section of the massive marketplace below ground, the Market Line. According to CityRealty, the start of construction at 180 Broome makes it the sixth site to begin building in the nine-site complex.

Handel’s tower features a 19-story residential tower that rises from a five-story, 140,000-square-foot commercial podium, which will span an entire block. The ground floor includes stores on all four sides as well as many access points to the below-ground Market Line.

The design draws on the “natural elements of the new Essex Crossing Park to the south,” according to the firm’s website. The roof of the office space will also have an elevated, landscaped terrace that will measure 1/3 of an acre and open to all building tenants.

The building at 180 Broome, or site four, falls under the second phase of the Essex Crossing development. Construction of the first phase (sites one, two five and six) began in 2015, and now the second phase has commenced. 180 Broome is scheduled to open in 2020.

Overall, the 1.9 million-square-foot Essex Crossing development will be completed in three phases, with an expected completion date of 2024. The complex will have over 1,000 rental units and condos, a 15,000-square-foot public park, movie theater, medical facility and bowling alley. In addition to the Market Line, a Trader Joe’s and Target will also open at the site.